Projection TV stuck in its cabinet

I hauled in a friends broken Zenith Projection TV circa 1981. It is stuck in the down position within the decorative but heavy as heck wood cabinet. Any one know how to manually raise this TV. It weighs a ton. The motor which used to crank the two geared bars to raise and lower it seems to be fried. Unfortunatley the same said motor seems to be located on the side of the unit, totally inaccessable while the TV is in the down position.
Aside from calling a repair man to come tell me to detroy the cabinet what do I do? It is a Zenith Model # SN45459P
Any advice other than using it as a base for my new TV would be appreciated.
B

 

Good Afternoon, outintheshed:

You have what we lovingly call a White Elephant. The set is twenty years old and is no longer supported by the manufacturer. Even if you could get it open, to what end?
I wasn't going to suggest you use it for a base for your new TV, though. However, the thought of a liquor cabinet flashed through my mind a couple of times.

And, I concur about the weight of the unit. New projection systems weigh about 16 pounds and produce light levels in and around 1200 Ansi lumens. That old unit may have produced light levels of 200 lumens (lumen: the light from one candle at a distance of one foot). And, of course, the tuner wouldn't handle the new hyper channels.

Smokey